Whether you’re a teacher, administrator or curious third grader, Google can make you smarter, faster. Or at least it can help you can appear to be smarter. So it makes sense to take a few minutes to learn a few of Google's tricks. This page was my virtual handout for a one day inservice given on January 30, 2008 for the Rutgers GSE CESP. Teacher trainers, feel free to use and improve upon it.
MATERIALS:
1. Make sure every participant has a computer with Google Earth preinstalled and running, and reliable Internet service. At the very least, make sure you have a 2:1 participant/computer ratio, and the computers are "tuned up" with the latest browsers and pluggins.
2. Projector and your computer, with bookmarks ready for the pages below. Take some time to personalize the information with your town's coordinates in Google Earth, and so on.
3. Chart paper and markers (one sheet for groups of 3 to 5).
AGENDA:
AM Introductions. Have each participant Google the person sitting next to them, to "learn something interesting." (keep it safe!). This will create a good context to discuss correct web use, if you like. But don't let things digress.
Top Ten Amazing Things About Google. Rather than "teach" Google, let your participants discover it. Remember every time you teach somebody something, you prevent them from discovering it themselves. So pass around one sheet of chart paper, and have each group start digging into Google.
As each group makes a discovery, demonstrate it on the big screen. In this way, your participants can spread discoveries from one table to the next. Encourage the use of Google Notes to keep track of findings. In our workshop, we came up with over 50 features that were new to just about everybody.
LECTURE: After the morning break, so a short lecture/demonstration on the story of Google, covering topics like search engine history, how Google makes money, and so on. Use the links below, and have each person follow along. You can set this up as a scavenger hunt if you like.
PM Application. Each person should set up a Google page, Calendar or iGoogle page. As they finish a page, let them show off by displaying the page on the big screen.
Finish with a Google test. Call out a strange fact, prefereably search engine related, and see who can find it first. The winner should call out the answer. For example, what preschool curriculum model did both Google Founders attend as young children?
You can also print this page if you like, but typing URLs just isn't very fun. Just remember, if you try it, you'll learn it.
- Start by customizing your home page, with iGoogle. You need a Google account, which is "free" (see "is Google really free?" above).
- Find a patent http://www.google.com/patents (find product D492679)
- Browse a book http://books.google.com/
- A satellite view of my office.
- Find the Arizona Battleship Memorial at Pearl Harbor first by looking at the regular map, and then downloading and installing Google Earth from http://earth.google.com/ where you can watch related movies.
- Search with your voice and cell phone, at http://www.google.com/goog411/
- Set up your personal clipping service, at http://www.google.com/alerts
Google can transform how teacher teach.
- Google for Educators is a good first stop at http://www.google.com/educators/index.html
- Next, have a look some of the tools Google recommends for teachers, at http://www.google.com/educators/tools.html
- Need Lesson Plans? Googles indexing sorts them by subject. Have a look at http://www.google.com/Top/Reference/Education/K_through_12/Educators/Lesson_Plans/
- Did you know you can set up your own school search engine, at http://www.google.com/coop/cse/ (it is free, and ad free for non-profits).
AND FINALLY